Our pals back home gave us a gift certificate for a whale watching tour out of Halifax Harbour. We love us some whales, so off we went! The weather was perfect -- sunny and cool.
Sadly, we didn't see any whales. The Murphy's On The Water tour doesn't actually leave the harbour -- it goes to the mouth of the harbour and then turns around. It is a pretty big harbour -- the longest in the world. The "captain" told Rob that they haven't seen any whales since Hurricane Bill last week. We saw some seagulls. And two seals popped their heads above the water. And we got a nice view of the harbour. Here's the guide, who, according to her bio, is a marine biology major, as she explains to an attentive audience that lobsters are really delicious.
She explained how to tell males from females. And told us that if a lobster ever pinched her finger, she'd pull its entire arm off because "they can grow another one." I'm sure the delicious lobsters made note of that. She also said that lobsters don't feel any pain when you boil them. This was probably also news to the delicious lobster, and is a convenient falsehood that has been debunked by scientific research (But don't take my word for it. See here: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/03/27/crab-lobster-pain.html). The guide also told us that seagulls are "obnoxious" and that fishermen hate seals because they eat all the fish. All of which made me think that the wildlife probably give this tour boat a wide berth, if they know what's good for 'em.
We also saw Theodore Tugboat, star of a popular Canadian children's TV show. According to Wikipedia, "The show deals with life learning issues portrayed by the tugs or other ships in the harbour. Most often, the tugs have a problem, or get involved in a struggle with each other or another ship, but they always manage to help one another resolve these problems and see them through. Their main focus however, is to always make the Big Harbour the friendliest harbour in the world, and to always do a good job with their work related tasks." I guess Theodore is kind of a maritime Thomas the Tank Engine. Zoë is very hot to cruise the harbour on Theodore Tugboat. He does look very friendly. Here he is heading for port -- behind him is one of the friendly orange oil tankers heading for the refinery.
She explained how to tell males from females. And told us that if a lobster ever pinched her finger, she'd pull its entire arm off because "they can grow another one." I'm sure the delicious lobsters made note of that. She also said that lobsters don't feel any pain when you boil them. This was probably also news to the delicious lobster, and is a convenient falsehood that has been debunked by scientific research (But don't take my word for it. See here: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/03/27/crab-lobster-pain.html). The guide also told us that seagulls are "obnoxious" and that fishermen hate seals because they eat all the fish. All of which made me think that the wildlife probably give this tour boat a wide berth, if they know what's good for 'em.We found a tiny door on the boat. It's more than likely a portal into John Malkovich's brain, but I'm hoping it's actually George Clooney's portal. I bet he'd be a lot of fun to be.
We also saw Theodore Tugboat, star of a popular Canadian children's TV show. According to Wikipedia, "The show deals with life learning issues portrayed by the tugs or other ships in the harbour. Most often, the tugs have a problem, or get involved in a struggle with each other or another ship, but they always manage to help one another resolve these problems and see them through. Their main focus however, is to always make the Big Harbour the friendliest harbour in the world, and to always do a good job with their work related tasks." I guess Theodore is kind of a maritime Thomas the Tank Engine. Zoë is very hot to cruise the harbour on Theodore Tugboat. He does look very friendly. Here he is heading for port -- behind him is one of the friendly orange oil tankers heading for the refinery.
See ya next time, Theodore!
REALLY sorry about the awful no-whale watch trip. It sounded like a good idea when we discussed it at work and it was local so you wouldn't have to travel far. I think you should write a letter or phone. It really wasn't necessary to be that graphic. Made me flinch and shudder to read about it. Though the part about how to tell boy lobsters from girl lobsters may have been interesting.
ReplyDeleteMy great-niece is studying to be a marine biologist and she is vegitarian. I know she'll be a lot more sensitive when she's a guide. I've helped bring her up to be kind.
M.